Echoes of a Song
by flamedancers
Summary: Hundreds of years have passed since the triforce shattered and Hyrule was abandoned. When Ganondorf finds a chance to recover what was lost, how can he refuse?
1. Chapter 1

Saddly, I do not own Legend of Zelda, or any of Nintendo's copyrights. I do, however own the game and I love it very much. All that I own are the original characters that I have written into this story.

Also, this is my first time posting anything here, please be kind. ^_^

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Chapter One: Fluctuation 

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Fog rolled in and swept over my feet as I stood at the edge of the moat that guarded the castle. I had been standing here for a good half-hour just looking at the castle that I could only assume had once been majestic. Every moment reminded me that we still couldn't cross the moat and inspect the ruins. The mysteries contained in the castle taunted me. My wistful expression turned to a frown as I looked down at the murky water that filled the offending moat. If the water wasn't so filthy I would have swam the distance myself by now. Frustrated, I took to fidgeting with my hat; pulling it tightly over my head as I stepped away from the water's edge.

If we couldn't find some kind of bridge, then our exploration would be cut short. The answers my father sought were inside the castle and without them the entire trip would be in vain.

A rustling sound to my right caught my attention and I glanced back to my brother Jasper who was now measuring the height of a nearby tree. His face was taut with concentration as he glanced between the tree and his paper that was now filled with measurements and equations. I strode up to him as he clicked away excitedly at his calculator. He had decided around noon that if we couldn't find a way across the water, then he would make a way. Luckily, the trees scattered around the moat had grown tall before whatever tragedy that had happened to this land had cut their lives short. Their towering remains were perfect for a make-shift bridge.

"Got one long enough?" I asked him as he looked up from his work, finally seeing me. "No no, still too short." He raised his eyes from his paper as he spoke and gestured up casually at the tree next to him. "This one only by three feet." Turning his head away, he looked out across the foggy moat with a hopeful expression on his face, "We're getting closer."

I looked up at the tree for a moment before frowning, "I saw one that was taller."

He jumped up eagerly, "Are you sure? Where? Is it on this side? How much taller?" His blue eyes flashing with excitement, he fired his question off so fast that I had little time to answer.

"Down boy, sheesh, give me a chance to talk will ya?" I mock-scolded him before continuing, "No, it wasn't on this side, it was around the back and it looked maybe a yard or two taller." At this I grinned, "I'll show you were it is if you want."

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I sighed as Jasper ran off to get our father. I stayed by the tree, choosing to rest up a bit. The trek around the massive moat to the tree had exhausted me and yet my brother showed no signs of tiring. He had always acted like a little brother, perpetually full of energy and excitement. While technically he was younger than me, it was only by a few minutes. He was still my twin and it was my long-standing belief that he had siphoned off of my energy while we were still in the womb. It would explain the constant dizzy spells that had plagued me since childhood.

It was not long before Jasper returned with our father, who was panting and trying to keep up with his son. They took a quick breather for my father, but soon they were witling away at the base of the tree trunk. Due to my light frame, it was obvious that I would be of little help to the two, so I wandered away towards the base of the castle to take another look at the dilapidated town as I made my way back to the inn that we were using as our camp.

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* * *

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Dust floated around my feet; shuffled up from the ground by my staggering steps. The dizziness had come upon me suddenly and I had been caught unawares. I fought in vain against the encroaching blackness that now dimmed my vision. Gasping, I fell to my knees as the world swam. My eyes tried desperately to focus on my surroundings; even as my mind was being barraged with visions in startling clarity.

The land around me was pristine; the cobbled street I knelt upon was packed with people and a cool breeze was blowing through my hair. Fighting the lightheaded feeling that threatened to topple me again, I unsteadily rose to my feet and began walking. The crowds did not part before me, nor did anyone look at me as I walked down the road and around the corner. Knowing that the hallucination would end soon, I did my best to ignore the strangely dressed people that surrounded me, only concentrating on reaching the inn.

Just as I was rounding the corner, another wave of dizziness caused me to stagger into the building beside me. Leaning heavily against the wall, I looked up and watched as slowly the visions of life began to fade; leaving in their wake the ruins that had surrounded my family ever since we had entered this dead land. Movement across the street caused my eyes to dart away from the door of the inn and I saw a man watching me. He stood almost a full head taller than me and covered most of his body with a heavy grey cloak. Small traces of red hair trailed down the sides of his neck, the rest hidden by his hood. The hood cast shadows over most of his tanned face and prevented me from seeing his eyes. As the rest of the phantoms faded out of sight, he too began to fade, but in his place was another man.

As the final traces of dizziness passed, I took a tentative step towards the man. As I took in his appearance and noticed that his hair wasn't red like the phantom's, it was a dark color, almost black. His skin also lacked the rich tan, and his build seemed a bit lighter as well.

My vision blurred for a moment as I watched him begin walking towards me. His steps were slow and heavy as he approached, choosing to stop just short of the sidewalk that I stood on.

Anxiety began to build up inside of me as I looked up at the man that towered over me. My father had kept me in the home for most of my life, so I had never really become comfortable with social interaction. He opened his mouth to speak, but what ever words he uttered fell on deaf ears as my attention was drawn sharply to his eyes. Their color had been nondescript before, but now they were as golden as the sun.

In all these years, I had never once fainted. This fact had always made me very proud due to the sheer number of dizzy spells I had suffered. Apparently it was time for me to break that streak. With a light thud, I collapsed to the ground at his feet.

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* * *

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Dreams were fleeting and confused but inherent in all of them were those golden eyes. No one had golden eyes. None but the gods could have eyes that vibrant. That much was common knowledge in my homeland. After all, people only had three main eye colors; blue, green, and brown. Any abnormalities in eye color only came from a mixing of these colors. It was true that occasionally a person would be born with grey eyes, but that was very rare and their eyes always changed to blue within their first year.

A prod to my arm woke me and my eyes were greeted with the sight of Jasper's face hovering over me. A well-aimed hand batted at his face made him lean back and he grinned and turned towards the door. "She's awake!" he called out to the other room, "I told you she'd wake up as soon as you both left!" He chuckled weakly at his joke and I heard some shuffling from the other room.

The rusty door swung open and first my father strode in, followed shortly by the man from before. A quick glance to his face showed that his eyes were dull and dark, without even a hint of gold. With this realization I relaxed, letting go of the breath I had been holding.

"Ah, you're finally awake El! You were starting to worry our guest." He chuckled heartily as he patted the man on the back. "Up and passing out at his feet like that, did you forget to eat again girl?" He tisked at me before continuing, "You're lucky you're alright, we heard a Wolfos howling as we came back from the castle. No telling what could have happened!"

"Dad, aren't you forgetting about something?" Jasper interjected before his father started up on another tangent about Wolfos.

My father looked puzzled for a moment before his face brightened, "Ah, of course! I haven't even introduced our new friend here!" He once again patted the man on his back, "This is-"

I watched his mouth move for a few moments before I scowled in confusion. "Wait, what is his name?" I asked.

"Eh? Didn't you hear me the first time? Its-" And again, my fathers' mouth moved, but no name was provided.

I looked to Jasper to see if it was some kind of a joke, but his expression betrayed no inner amusement at my confusion. Jasper had never had a good poker face, so if he wasn't laughing, then it was impossible for this to be a joke. Maybe my ears were still a little buzzy from fainting and I just hadn't heard the name clearly. I decided that it was best for me to just act like everything was normal, so I nodded in mock understanding.

Turning my attention again to the man I resolved to ask him his name later. "Thank you for your help before." I tilted my head down in respect as I spoke.

"What kind of man would I be if I didn't help a woman in distress?" He smiled before continuing, "Are you feeling any better? You looked a little lost a few moments ago…" He trailed off, looking at me quizzically.

The edge of his lips rose into a slight smirk for a moment and a flush rose to my cheeks. I shook my head quickly. "I'm fine, me ears were just ringing a little so it was hard to pay attention. It's gone away already."

At this he smiled again, "I'm glad that you're well then. You should take better care of yourself; your brother was very worried about you." A second glance at Jasper proved his words true and I found myself wondering if the man had left my father out on purpose, or if my father really hadn't been concerned.

Thinking back to what my father said before, I grew nervous. I never had a problem with forgetting to eat. Nor was it common for anyone in my family to actually faint. Nervously I watched as my father began chatting merrily to the man, oblivious of his noticeable lack of interest in theories about the origins of wolfos pack structure. Maybe the rumors that this cursed country would mess with your mind were true. Maybe…no, my father was probably just trying to keep our guest entertained and the attention off of me. He knew how uncomfortable I was around people.

I looked again at Jasper; he was watching my father intently and seemed concerned about something. I would have to talk to him later tonight and see if he had noticed the same thing I had. My thoughts were interrupted as my stomach growled. Jasper stood up and grabbed my arm. "Come on, you've been out for most of the day. Let's get you something to eat."

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Jasper set down his fork and looked towards the room we had come from, "What happened?" He asked softly, "It's not like you to faint."

I finished the last of my food before I answered. "It was another one of those dizzy spells. It just…lasted longer than it normally does." I reached cross the table and took his empty plate and added it to mine as I walked to the wash bin to clean them off.

"Is that all it was?" He spoke softly, but with concern. I nodded wordlessly and moved to put the plates away, but he stopped me. "Did you see them again?"

My father didn't know what I saw when I had my dizzy spells, Jasper was the only person I had ever trusted enough to tell. "Yes, I saw them." I paused for a moment, "It was strange though, everything was clearer than normal. Even the buildings and streets changed."

A glance at his face showed that he had expected this. "And that man, did you see him before you fainted?"

I nodded again, "Yeah, he was there just as everything was clearing up." A thought occurred to me, "Hey Jasper? That man…does his appearance look right to you?"

"What do you mean, 'does his appearance look right'?" He looked at the man in the other room. "He looks fine to me, maybe a little pale, but normal enough. Why?"

When I didn't say anything, he pressed some more, "Ellen, what's wrong?"

"I don't know, that dizzy spell really messed with me I guess." I started brushing some dirt off of my clothes. "When I saw him, it wasn't him." I scowled trying to find how best to say it. "He was…different, his hair was red for example." Jasper nodded, encouraging me to continue. "You know the people that I see when I get those spells? I saw one of them overlapped over him. He was more imposing and even when that faded his eyes…" I fell silent as I remembered those otherworldly eyes.

"What about his eyes?" Jasper glanced back to the man, trying to get a good view of his face.

I shook my head slightly, as though to shake off my own conflicting emotions, "It must have been the lingering dizziness, but when I saw him, his eyes were gold."

Before Jasper could reply, my father joined us and began talking to Jasper like I wasn't even there. Put off, I stood up and walked up the stairs to the second floor. I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I didn't hear the footsteps that followed closely behind mine.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Reinstatement

The windows on the second floor gave a panoramic view of town all the way up to the castle. The light began to fade as it drew closer to evening, casting shadows across much of the scenery. I sagged down onto the bench and took in the view, glad for anything to take my mind off of the concerns and frustrations that troubled it. However I was drawn sharply from my revere by a voice from the doorway behind me.

"The view is far more spectacular in the morning."

I turned my head back towards the doorway and saw the man from before. He took a step into the room and as he looked away from the window towards me, his face softened. It was odd, he had an air of eagerness, but his expression betrayed little emotion.

Taking note of my silence, he continued, "The sun," He pointed towards the towers of the castle, "It rises just to the left of those peaks and the rays stream down across the moat almost like a bridge of light."

It took some effort, but I was able to tear my eyes away from him and look back towards the window. The sky was getting darker and the shadows now wrapped almost possessively around the base of the castle. The only lights to be found were from the dying sun in the west and the reflection of the twinkling starlight in the moat.

"About earlier today…" He started talking, but I stopped paying attention after the first few words. My eyes were fixated on the light in the moat. Realization had dawned on me; there were no stars in the sky.

"Um, sir?" My words sounded weak even to me. He stopped talking and quickly made his way to my side. "What's wrong?" He asked; his voice hushed. He followed my gaze towards the lights just as they began streaming out of the moat. His posture instantly stiffened and before I had a chance to ask what was going on, he grabbed my wrist and dragged me towards the door.

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* * *

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We flew down the stairs, my feet barely touching the ground. I was surprised, he hadn't looked very strong before and yet his grip felt like a vice. We had almost reached the back door when he stopped abruptly. I stumbled into his back and would have fallen had he not been holding on to me. I glanced past him, wondering what had caused the sudden stop.

Jasper stood between him and the door, his hands balled up in tight fists. "Where are you going with my sister?" He demanded. The grip on my wrist loosened slightly and I heard my father's footsteps heading towards us from the kitchen.

"Listen boy, we don't have much time." The man hissed, "This country may be dead, but its inhabitants are still walking. If we don't get out of their town, before they get here then we are going to have more trouble than any of us would like."

I gapped openly, "Wait, so those lights were…" I began, but a sound outside of the inn cut me off. A loud crack resonated from the front door causing all of us to turn and look. The door now had small fractures running up the wood grain and an eerie pale green light was shinning through the gaps. The man muttered what I could only assume was a curse under his breath, as the door bucked almost off its hinges. Another cacophony of creaks assaulted our ears as the intruder tried again to open the door. I thanked whatever god was listening that my father had locked it. My brother quickly moved to the back door and swung open the rusty iron lock. The grip on my wrist tightened again and I was rushed out the door. Before I lost sight of Jasper, I saw him grab his bag and turn to lead my father towards the door. In a few moments they were rushing down the dark alleyway behind us.

We followed the twists and turns of the alley all the way to its mouth, often ducking beneath beams of light cast from windows by other ghostly apparitions within the houses and stores. However small the lights were, they helped to guide us down the dark alley. Reaching the mouth of the passage, we stopped for a short time to catch our breath and plan. My father felt that we should leave this haunted town and take shelter in the fields outside, but my brother argued that fleeing towards the fields would provide far too little protection if those…things really meant us harm.

I turned away from their argument and looked up to the man who still held my wrist. "I think you can let go now." I tugged lightly on his arm. "I can run well enough on my own, it is not like you have to carry me." He turned back to me and nodded solemnly, releasing my wrist.

He held my gaze for a moment, but then turned back towards the town square just beyond the edge of our hiding place. "What are those things?" I whispered, thinking aloud. We had a good view of what I assumed was a marketplace and the ghostly citizens were going about their business much like normal people, although what it was that they were buying and selling was a mystery to me.

"They are the memories of the dead." He spoke so quietly at first that I barely heard him. "Memories that are intent on reliving their lives in the dark hours of the night." He paused briefly to chuckle and his expression turned cold, "They don't like it when something interferes with their illusion." His voice was gravely; full of sarcasm, almost spite.

I scowled a bit as he spoke; I thought that I had been imagining it at first, but his voice was changing with each word he uttered. Slowly his timber distorted until it was a deep and powerful sound. He turned his head a little to get a better view of the rest of the square and a small trace of red hair slid out of his hood and came to rest on his shoulder.

The sound of my father and brother's argument faded to a faint buzz and wave of vertigo washed over me. A light whimper left my lips, as a warm feeling enveloped my mind and a comforting blackness stole my sight.

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_Feet pounding, a rhythm of heart beats. A step per beat to match a tempo that eclipsed all thought. Tree branches swayed from my path and the road rose up from the ground to meet me. It was a song, the tensing of stings, of fingers dancing and a drawn out full bow; the music drowned my mind._

A fading note freed me from my trance, allowing my eyes to finally open. I looked down at my hands, in my right lay a horse hair bow and crooked into my left shoulder was an instrument made of a rich amber colored wood; its four steel strings still ringing with one last echoing note. Looking past the cello I saw rich tiles set in an intricate mosaic although I was too close to see what image they portrayed.

Footsteps reverberated off of the amphitheater styled walls, seemingly coming from all directions at once, eventually resting a few feet in front of me. Dazedly I looked up from the gleaming tiles to see an imposing warrior, black plate armor covering his large muscular body. Thick leather riding gloves covered his hands, and his flaming red hair was pulled back and woven into a golden crown atop his head, complimenting his rich tan and golden eyes. I was tall for a woman, but he was easily a full head taller than me.

He eyed the instrument in my hands and his lips curled into a knowing smile, "I see, so this is what is going on." He spoke quietly, but his voice was booming. Looking up a little, he addressed me, "Before, when your father introduced me, you did not hear my name, did you? Then I should introduce myself now." He took a deep bow and knelt upon the ground. "My name is Ganondorf and I am at your service my lady." His words rolled off of his tongue like rich velvet, but his tone grew ominous as he continued. "A curse has been placed upon me, one that steals my identity and seals away my true name. For the moment, you have broken this curse but its effects will soon claim me once again." He rose to his feet and stepped forward, his long strides easily covering the remaining distance between us, coming to rest just a few feet away.

From the edges of the room, shadows gathered together, slowly sliding towards him along the gaps between the tiles. They coiled and writhed as they wrapped around his feet. In shock, I watched as the shadows slid up, covering him, changing him; everywhere that they touched, the tarnished his dignity. Before the last of his splendor was covered and distorted, he looked me dead on with his gleaming golden eyes, "You can fix this land. Break my curse and help me bring life back to this country." A shudder overcame him as the last words died in the air, leaving before me a man who was nothing more than a mere shadow of the powerful vision that had spoken to me. Even with my senses returned to me, I could hardly believe that I was awake. This man before me, this god was asking me for my help. He thought I had done something great, but I had no idea what it was that I had done.

I heard some shuffling behind him and looked up in time to see my brother and father slip in through a pair of grand double doors framed by flickering torch light. "My God!" My father gasped loudly. "This place…this place is amazing! It's perfect!" He barked out a laugh as he spun around in a circle, much like an excited child trying to take in the sights of an amusement park. Behind him, Jasper was scrambling to close the doors. He even grabbed a lance from one of the suits of armor and slid it into the large door handles in hopes of preventing any ghouls from following us.

The man; Ganondorf, looked at them for a few moments before silently taking his leave. He pushed aside a velvet drape, revealing what looked to be a parlor. Taking one final glance at me, he left. His expression seeming to say, 'if you want to know more, follow me.' I turned back to talk to Jasper, but he was being dragged by my father into what I could assume was the throne room. For the moment I was alone. Taking the solitude as a blessing, I set the mysterious instrument down and began exploring the vast entryway.

The walls were covered in ornate paintings and looking glasses.

_A god had spoken to me._

Covering some of the tile floors were plush violet and gold carpets.

_A god had asked for my help._

Large gleaming crystal chandeliers hung high overhead; gently cascading light over me.

_I have done something deserving the attention of a god._

I froze as that thought sunk in. Taking a quick look around, I tried to see what it was that I could have done. All that I remembered was being in that alley back in town and the next thing I knew I was here. "Wait…" I whispered under my breath. There had been something between those two moments; it was right at the edge of my memory, only a vague feeling, but it was definitely there. I concentrated on what I could remember, the emotions and sounds…the beat…the tempo… "A song..?" I turned back to where I had laid the cello. The fingers on my left hand twitched involuntarily as I gazed at the instrument. It seemed to beckon me to play it. A slight sense of vertigo began pulling me towards the cello. Much like submitting to a dream, I felt my consciousness start to drift away.

"El? Ellen?" My brother's voice startled me out of my…daze was it? I shook my head to try to clear my mind of the strange emotions swirling within me. "Sorry, what were you saying Jasper?" I turned to him and tried to hide the quiver in my voice.

He looked at me oddly, "I was just saying..." He paused for a moment as if considering what he was going to say next, "Well, I think you should come and see this." I nodded wordlessly and followed him into the room where my father was.

I was correct in my assumption that this was the throne room. Across the long room from the door was a tall seat covered in velvety cushions. But these details were quickly forgotten as the two figures in the room captivated my attention. A blackened statue of a young man was crouched in the center of the room, a gleaming blade held firmly in his right hand as he swung at an unseen foe. It was strange, the statue was made in a smooth dark stone, but the sword looked to be folded steel. It was hard to tell his face as the only light was shining was from behind him. There was something about the statue that felt…familiar somehow. A glimmer of gold caught my attention. Tucked into the waves of his hair was a small gold chip. Gently, I plucked it out and placed it in my pocket for safekeeping. Finishing my examination of the first figure, I made my way to the second. Seated on the throne was a young woman carved from the same black stone as the man. Unlike the man, her back was not turned to the light so I could get a good look at her face. Her expression looked strained, like she was trying not to cry, but there was also conviction in her eyes; a steely determination that almost scared me. You couldn't trust someone with a face like that; it meant that they were on the edge. A person on the edge was dangerous. I started to back away from her when the torchlight flickered across her face, momentarily giving a far to life-like quality to her.

A shudder ran down my spine and I decided that now was as good a time as any to check out the rest of the castle. Or, at least, the parts that were a good distance away from here. I made my way back to the cavernous entryway, easily slipping past my father as he excitedly flipped through a thick leather bound book that he must have picked up somewhere. Pushing the door to, I found myself facing the instrument again. Gently, I moved to pick it up, intending to set it along one of the walls to keep my father from tripping on it. My hands grasped the wood and to say the least, I was very surprised when the thing vanished. I blinked in shock, but just shook my head. It wasn't like it was the only unbelievable occurrence this night.

My pursuit denied; I found myself looking towards the drape that the god had gone through. Questions were flowing through my mind in an endless stream; I might as well try to answer a few.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: What Just Happened?

I pushed aside the drapes and found myself in a warm and cozy parlor. Tracing my fingers along a dark green and gold lounge by the doorway, I marveled at the rich textures contained in the room. The urge to curl up in one of the plush chairs rose within me, but I did my best to squash it. The god wasn't here. Turning my back on the tempting comforts, I wove my way past armchairs and sculpted candelabras towards the slightly open glass doors leading to a balcony outside. A light gust of wind played with my hair as it swung the doors open. Strands of hair slid loose from my frazzled braid as the breeze died; like cobwebs they slid down across my shoulder tickling my neck and chin. I tried to weave them back with the rest of the hair, but gave up in frustration. "Dratted hair." I muttered under my breath. It would do no good to go before a god when not at least presentable. Irritably, I pulled the band loose, unwinding the locks until they fell free down my shoulders. I scanned the room quickly, "Mirror, mirror…where's a mirror. Ah, there you are!" I stepped up to the small looking glass that hung suspended from the ceiling by coiling gold wires and crystalline beads.

Running fingers through my tousled dirty-blond locks, I attempted to bind them together again into a tight braid. Try as I might however, without a brush the strands kept slipping out. With a sigh, I chose to instead just pull it up into a ponytail. Not as dignified as a braid, but still more appropriate than the alternative of hanging my hair down like those women from the southern beaches that my father had told me about.

Looking at my reflection, I frowned. I had never liked how I looked with a ponytail; it gave my appearance an aggressive edge that made me feel uncomfortable. At least in this case, my lack of a brush helped as it made the hair more curled around the ends and softened what would normally be a very austere look.

Another chilling puff of air blew through the door; causing the mirror to spin and reflect the torchlight like sparking golden charms across the walls. Moving away from the twirling lights, I stepped out onto the balcony and into the cold night.

The small balcony overlooked a large garden that surrounded a hedge maze. From this vantage point, I could see that a fountain of some sort lay at the center of the maze. From my distance however, I could just barely hear the sound of the bubbling water. Worse yet, I could not see Ganondorf. After a second search from the balcony proved fruitless, I found my way toward the stone steps to my right that led down into the gardens.

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Trees laden with rich fruits lined many of the walkways and I occasionally had to pick my way through a mass of fallen oranges, or other exotic citrus to continue my search.

I was in the middle of crossing a small decorative bridge when I saw him; standing beneath the bough of a willow with his face held to the sky. His clothes fluttered in the wind, but he stood so still that he seemed breathless.

Tentatively I stepped toward him, trying desperately to calm my nerves. I was not very used to starting conversations with men from outside my family so I remained silent; choosing instead to wait for him to acknowledge me. After a long moment of deafening silence, he moved. The grass rustled softly as he turned to face me and I felt my face grow pale with apprehension. He seemed surprised at first, like he hadn't heard me approach. "Your hair…" His voice trailed off as he spoke.

I twirled a few errant strands between my fingers; maybe a ponytail wasn't such a good idea. My gaze lowered with embarrassment.

His lips twitched up in a wry grin at my discomfort, "It looks better that way."

His expression turned serious as he continued. "You came out here for answers, am I correct?"

I nodded slowly, "I wanted to know…what I did." my voice faltered; how foolish my question sounded aloud.

He looked at me questioningly, "You don't know what you have done?" He gestured to the lush plant life and the flickering lights from the castle and laughed. "You have brought life back to this castle with your music. Everywhere that those notes of yours echoed, time has been reversed." He his laughter turned dark however, "Though I may be the only one left alive to remember, I remember it well. You, my dear, are gifted by the goddesses as one who is meant to guard an aspect of this land." He paused for breath, "When I first saw you in the street, I was caught off guard. I could hardly believe that after all this time I would find one. But after what I saw you do, there are no doubts left in my mind." "When we spoke before inside the castle, I told you that you had the power to fix this land. I know you have this power because you are the sage of time."

As soon as the words left his lips, I felt a warmth growing behind my eyes and I started to think that I was succumbing to another dizzy spell, but after only wavering slightly, nothing happened. And as soon as the feeling had come, it faded away. The god eyed me curiously, as though expecting something, but after a long silence his look changed to one of displeasure. "I guess we will have to start over fresh then." He turned around and began walking back towards the castle. "I was sure that the goddesses wouldn't…" he muttered under his breath as he drew away from me into the rapidly cooling night. "They truly have no mercy."

I followed behind him rushing to catch up, feeling all too much like a child following her caretaker.

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I caught up to him quickly and as he led me back into the castle, he spoke of the past. He knew much of the history of this land; a fact that I attributed to his being a native deity. Most of the knowledge he shared came in the form of legends about the creation of the land and the origins of the Sages. He told me how the Goddesses had selected souls to guard the aspects of the land and maintain balance. These souls were to be the Sages and they would fulfill their duty in each lifetime that they were called upon.

"Each soul has its own memory that retains such things as personality and talents. The Sages' souls are different however, they also remember themselves. Each Sage has the memories of every lifetime before them. From this, they draw their understanding of both their powers and duties to this land; with each lifetime, they become stronger and wiser." "Long ago, when this land was wrought with the vengeance of the Goddesses, something terrible happened. The Goddesses deemed a soul to no longer be worthy of its duty. After many lifetimes of faithful service, this soul was cast aside as punishment for its crimes." He strode up the stairway towards the parlor that I had gone through before; pausing only momentarily to glance back to the starlit sky. "That soul was your predecessor."

I gasped quietly at this. I had assumed from his story that my soul was the original one and that was why I had been able to revert the castle to its former glory. If I was taking the place of the original, then that meant that my predecessor had been even more powerful! "So…what did my predecessor do?"

He fell silent for a long time, and we had almost reached the throne room before he spoke again. "She wished for something that the Goddesses couldn't give." With that said, we entered the throne room in silence.

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It had been several hours since my talk with the god and I was still trying to understand what he had told me. Reaching into my pocket, I drew out the small golden chip that I had found on the statue in the throne room. I had meant to show it to him, but the longer I held it in my hand, the more unpleasant the idea sounded.

The flickering light from the fireplace behind me reflected off of the golden surface, making it burst to life like a match. The desire to seek out more of its kind grew within me and I found myself standing up from the cushioned bed without meaning to. Glancing back at the gold chip oddly, I slid it back into my pocket and began looking around the room on the off-chance that I would find something. After a few minutes of opening drawers and closets, I returned to the bed defeated. I had found several gowns and even an ornate lacquered jewelry box, but after seeing the firelight of the golden chip, they seemed lackluster in comparison.

On a whim, I reached over into the closet again and withdrew one of the gowns. It was a white embroidered gown with light lavender velvet accents. A flicker of reflected light from a shelf above the dresses caught my eye and I gently pulled down a pair of golden shoulder pads. As I lowered them to eye level, a couple of delicate chains slid off and clattered down to the ground. Startled, I backed up, tripping on the edge of the rug and landing flat on my rear. "Well that was dignified." I muttered sarcastically as I picked myself up off the ground.

As I straightened my clothes, I heard a sound much like a whisper behind me. My father and brother were still in the throne room despite the late hour and Ganondorf had gone to bed some time ago. It was unlikely that I would be able to hear any of them from my room, besides, the whisper sounded...feminine. A chill set into my bones and a cold breath washed over me. In shock, I jumped forward and spun around.

Before me stood a blond woman who looked to be barely into her thirties, garbed in the same white and violet gown that I still lay on the bed where I had set it. This in itself was odd enough, the fact that I could see through her however was what did me in.

My shriek echoed long into the night, rebounding off the high ceilings and stone floors, hardly loosing any of its sharpness. Later, I would be surprised at how swiftly I lept over the bed and swung open the door and I would marvel even more at how fast Ganondorf found his way to the room. He had to run a decent distance to reach me from the room he had chosen and yet he wasn't even breathing hard. When he saw what was inside the room however, it seemed that he stopped breathing entirely.

The ghost woman walked towards me slowly, and he did nothing to stop her. Following his lead, I held my breath as she reached out towards me, holding her hand over my pocket. She opened her mouth and again I heard the strange whispering, only this time there were words. "Power" She began, "It calls, desire, greed…" "…do not let it..." She retracted her hand and walked slowly back down the corridor whispering to herself. "It is close….my wish…they will come…"

As her image faded into the darkness, I gasped for air. I had held my breath too long and my chest burned from the effort. I tore my eyes away from the hall she had used and looked back at the god. "What was that?" I asked, my voice still wavering in fear.

"Zelda." He whispered then turned to me suddenly, "What is in your pocket?" He demanded.

"My what?" I asked, confused. Realization dawned on me and I reached into my pocket, retreaving the gold chip. "This is all I have." I held it out to him, so that he could see it. He snached it out of my hand and held it up to the light.

He barked out a laugh as his face brightened with pure joy. "So that is why! I thought it had been lost forever and yet here it is!" "Perhaps this land is not forsaken after all." Holding the piece before him like a treasured heirloom, he spoke to me. "Remember how I told you that this land was created by three goddesses?" He continued, not even waiting for my answer. "When they departed for the heavens, they left behind a sacred artifact. Three golden triangles that would come to be known as the triforcce." Taking one more loving look at the golden shard, he placed it into a small pouch on his belt. "When your predecessor fell, the triforce was shattered and I thought it lost forever. I never even thought that there was a chance it still existed."

He paused, looking around the room contemplatively. "If this piece still has power, then it could explain the gouls in Castle Town…" He strode over to a desk in the corner and pulled open a draw, seemingly at random, and withdrew a thick piece of parchment. Unrolling it, he lay it flat on the desk's surface.

I slipped into the room and up behind him, trying to get a look at the paper. It appeared to be a map.

"Here." He pointed down at a large mountain that dominated the North-Eastern corner of the map. "If these pieces still hold power, then they should be effecting the environments that surround them like this one did. I never thought much of the gouls and phantoms that litter this land, but then again, I had assumed that it was just a sign that the godesses had abandoned us." He patted the pouch that held the gold piece. "Now that I know it still exists, I have a reason to seak these horrors out."

He rolled up the map and tied it with a small white ribbon from the dresser. "Death Mountain is a prime location. It has always been home to poes and redeads, but after the incident its undead population increased dramatically. We will search there first."

I was very confused now, "Wait, what do you mean, 'we will search there first'? I have to stay with my family!"

"If we are to save this land, then we must seek these pieces out. If the Triforce is remade, then Hyrule will flourish like it once did." He turned and looked me straight in the eyes and for a moment I saw a flicker of gold. "You do want to save this land, don't you?" His voice was low and allowed no arguments.

I nodded uncertainly. It was a true blessing to have such a task placed upon you by a god and yet…I felt apprehensive. The duties I had to my father and brother were not so easy to shake off and I was hesitant to try. Any arguments that I would have voiced however were made moot by his next words.

"Make sure you have your things ready to go, we'll leave early tomorrow morning." Taking in my shocked expression, he continued. "Don't worry about your family, we will only be gone for a week at most and when I show them where the library is, they will hardly notice you are gone."

I nodded again, feeling only slightly better about the situation. A thought came upon me and I frowned, "What are we going to do about food and water?" I asked.

He dismissed my concerns with a wave of his hand. "Don't worry about that. My people come from the desert so finding food in unlikely places is a specialty of mine." He grinned roguishly before bowing, "Now, unless you have any other pressing concerns, I bid you good night." And with that said, he left; leaving me with plenty to think about.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Transperantly Elusive

Jasper's POV

I woke with a start, my face cold and sore from resting on the tile floor of the throne room. Reaching my hand up to my cheek, I plucked a few small pebbles from the dents they had formed in my skin. Standing up, I stretched, letting my stiff muscles tense and relax. This was a good morning. Judging from the faint glow cascading down from the eastern windows, I could tell that it was still early, just the way that I liked it. Picking up my paper pad and pencils from the ground where I had slept last night, I set out in search of more intersting discoveries. Twisting my neck to the side as I walked, I heard a satisfying crack as my neck loosened up just a bit more.

The first thing on my agenda was to find either a washroom, or a mirror. My sister never liked me sleeping on the floor, so I would need to hide the tell-tale signs before she got up. If I was good, then she wouldn't lecture me on how I was 'going to get sick' if I wasn't careful.

I knew that she was staying in the eastern wing of the castle, so my direction of choice was obvious. "To the western wing!" I announced happily to no one. This was the wing that I had wanted to explore from the beginning. According to what I had been able to learn, the guard's quarters and training grounds were in the western wing. With the excitement of a little boy going to the fair I set off, hoping to see if any weapons had been left behind.

The start of the trip proved uneventful, but to my credit, I _had_ found a mirror. Brushing a few bits of dirt out of my hair, I grinned; there was no way she'd know I had slept on the floor. With that done, I walked away from the mirror satisfied; oblivious to the large red indents on my right ear.

Much like I had expected, the guard's quarters _were_ in the western wing of the castle. What I _hadn't_ expected was the fact that they were only accessable from the _outside_. After another hour wasted looking for a door to the courtyard, I started getting irritated. Spying an open window, I chose to do what any normal person would given the circumstances. I jumped out.

"Ow..ch..ch….." I hissed as I picked myself out of the bush that had served to 'soften' my fall. After a few moments of tugging branches out of my clothes, I decided that was infact, _not_ one of my better ideas.

"If Ell could see me right now, she'd scold me something fierce." I chuckled to myself at the thought. What really got me was that I wasn't the only one chuckling.

.

* * *

.

I looked up in confusion and found myself face-to-face with a ghost. I yelped in surprise as I backed up…directly into another bush. The ghost / girl giggled again, a strange whispering almost masking the merry jingle to the sound. The morning sunlight reflected off her face like water and I noticed something. "You…you're the the statue from the throneroom."

Her giggling stopped, and the happy expression fell from her face like a sheet. Her mouth opened, and for a moment, all I heard was the strange murmur of whispers, then I noticed that there were words mixed in.

"…must be the hero. I am grateful that you came." Her voice faded in and out like clinking bells, each note fading into the next. "He is moving so we must act quickly. We can not let this…" She shook her head saddly, "It is not my wish too…" Her expression went blank and she started to walk away as though she had forgotten that I was there.

"Wait!" I called out to her, but to my dismay, she kept walking. She didn't seem dangerous, so I followed her through the courtyard; the guard's quarters could wait.

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* * *

.

I followed her until the sun had reached its peak, and was now certain that the statue in the throne room was of her. Who she was seemed rather obvious, by the way that she held herself as she wandered the vast halls of the castle and the level of control in her voice when she spoke; I knew that she was royalty. She didn't look old enough to be married, but nobles had a tendency to be married off young, so her age meant little. What did matter was that she was only wearing a simple golden circlet, not a jeweled one; a sign that, while she was royalty, there was a chance that she was not first in line for the throne.

"So are you a princess?" I asked her as she passed her hand slowly over a blooming rosebush. Her hand stilled, and her face grew taut. A fine golden mist formed around her hand and wrapped around the bloom. Once the mist had settled, she moved her hand away. At first nothing happened, then the edges of the petals faded, becoming as clear as glass. With one deft motion, she plucked the glass rose and handed it to me.

"A favor, for my knight. May our endeavors bear fruit within our lifetimes." She smiled softly, but it was not at me. She was looking over my head as though to a person who was much taller than herself. She held the rose out, waiting for it to be taken; and not knowing what else to do, I reached up and took it.

I felt the glass rose between my fingers and was startled to find that it did not feel like glass. Looking down at it, it looked like glass, but what I felt was a normal rose. I lifted it up to the sky and the sun shone through it, casting rainbow lights that scattered across the ground. I looked away from the rose to find the girl had gone. I looked around the garden to see if she was still near, but there was no trace of her. I took another look at the glass rose and watched as a petal fell loose and gently drifted to the ground.

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* * *

.

"Dad? Where's Ellen?" It was late afternoon before I made my way back to the main hall to meet up with my dad, and my sister was no where to be seen. "Dad?" He finally looked up from the stack of books that he had surrounded himself with.

"What is it Jasper? I'm a bit busy right not, I've found this lovely book on Lizafos that may shed some light on their origins!" His eyes never left the pages of the book, so rapt was he in his reading.

I walked up to him and unceremoniously snagged the book out of his hand, "Where's Ellen?" His brow furrowed in confusion, "You know, I think I saw her this morning when I found the library, but I haven't seen her since. Maybe she is in the garden? She loves plants after all."

"I just came from the garden and she wasn't there." I said, growing concerned. He shrugged casually as I handed him back his book. "Oh, and where is that man from last night?"

"Who?" He looked at me oddly before stuffing his face back into the book, "I don't remember anyone other than us and those nasty ghouls and if you mean the ghouls then I hope they are far away."

"No, that guy…I don't remember what his name was but he is the one who warned us about the ghouls." I was getting worried; Ell had mentioned that she thought the country's curse might be affecting our father, and now I was thinking that maybe there was more truth to that concern than I had first thought.

"Jasper, did you not get enough sleep last night? Ellen was the one who told us about the ghouls remember? We are the only people in this entire god-forsaken country and we have seen no one else since left the station at the border." With that said, he effectivly dismissed me. More troubled than ever, I set out to find Ellen.

I first checked the room she had gone to last night. The packs she had brought with her were gone, as was any sign that she had been there. "Ellen!" I called out, now very worried. I ran to the room that I had seen the strange man go into the night before, hoping that atleast he could tell me where she had gone. I flung the door open, making it thud against the wall and rattle at the hinges. A quick glance around the room told me what I already feared. He wasn't here.

That man had rarely taken his eyes off her since we had first come across him. Anger boiled up in me, subduing the chill that had wound its way around my heart. I was certain that he had taken her. "How could I have been so stupid!" I cursed and punched the wall. I had known that he was interested in her, had known something was up when he tried to take her when the ghouls appeared. Why hadn't I kept a closer eye on her? 'Maybe they are still in the Castle grounds', I told myself, maybe they haven't left yet. I rushed out of the room, rounding the corner so fast I almost slipped.

I had just made my way into the main hall when I saw the ghost. She was peeking out the main door causiously, like she didn't want to be seen. She jumped, like she had been startled, and whirled around to face someone I couldn't see. I jogged up to her, hoping she would say something that would help me.

"…power has gone. He plans to take the kingdom, nay, the Triforce for his own. We must find the chosen hero before he does." She sighed, "You were right Impa, I never should have trusted that Gerudo; King of Theives indeed. He steals anything that interests him and may yet steal my hope." She chuckled regretfully, "And yet I still want to believe in him, I never thought those golden eyes would hold such sway over me."

Her last words began to sink in and I froze in shock. When Ell first woke up, she had said that, before she had passed out, the man had golden eyes. Gold was the color of gods, so I had thought she had just been seeing things. But if he was a god, then it was possible that he was the man the ghost had mentioned. Had a god spirited my sister away?


	5. Chapter 5

Dust and ash billowed up from the ground with every step, casting a grey shadow over what little light made it into the forsaken town. Kakariko, the town had died long ago, but the stories kept its memory fresh.

It was said that when Hyrule fell into despair and her people forced to flee, the residents of Kakariko stayed. Not out of lack of a desire to leave however, but because they had been dragged from their beds by the dead that lay in the darkness. Dragged into a temple of shadows where they were tortured and killed. Many stories were told about Kakariko, and thanks to its malevolent nature, they were all ghost stories. One in particular told of a mighty creature that could only be seen with the eyes of truth. This fiend lay within the depths of the temple of shadows and played a terrible tune upon its massive drum. It said that you would hear the beat gradually growing louder and louder until the song consumed you. It was then that he would reach out and drag you into the darkness too, using your broken body to make the new skin for his drum. These stories were used to frighten children, but standing in this ashen world made it hard to believe that was the only reason for the stories.

The warnings in these stories were not lost upon me as I skirted shadows cast by the decrepit buildings that surrounded the walkways. "Are you sure its even here?" I called out to Ganondorf vainly. "We've been here for almost the entire day and there has been no sign of it. Maybe it isn't here." A gust swept across the rooftops, displacing a thick cloud of ash as it whistled across broken shingles. The sound echoed in the abandoned houses and I swore it sounded like children crying.

Ganondorf lifted a large plank of rotting wood from the unfinished construction sight, casually inspected it and tossed it aside. I coughed as a cloud of dust puffed past me. "Yes, and it is a piece of power. I can feel it." He flicked open the pouch on his belt, revealing the abnormally cheery golden chip and held it aloft. Odd that it still shown brightly despite the dimming sun. "I know it is near." He said as he walked away. Satisfied that the piece was not in the worksite, he strode farther into the town and up a short flight of stairs leading into a windmill. "And I will not rest until it is found!" He accented his words with a swift kick to the windmill's door, causing it to crack loudly as it shattered. Satisfied that the door was thoroughly destroyed, he walked into the dark structure; his thick boots crunching the wood shards underneath them. Yet another dark foreboding room for us to explore. Goody.

Desperate to not be left behind in this place, I followed. I slowed when I reached the doorway however, choosing to delicately pick my way through the chunks of wood. My soles were neither as thick as his nor as sturdy as his. Besides, I liked not having foreign objects jammed into the soles of my feet.

It was close to evening and as such, the light was fading fast. This did not help our search any as we only had two lanterns to aid us. While the flickering candlelight did help us find our way through the dark building, it did little to calm my nerves. Being the only mortal in the group, I felt that I had a right to be more than a little frightened.

Nearing the back of the structure I pushed aside a small plank of wood that had fallen from the ceiling. I drew the lantern closer to the hole it had been covering, but something stayed my hand. "Did you hear that?" I all but whispered.

The god grunted as he dropped down from a beam above us. "Hear what?"

He looked at me in either confusion or concern, I could not tell. "What did it sound like?" Ah, concern.

"It was…like a light thump. But it was deep and echoed so I couldn't hear where it came from." I looked around the room for its source…there. The sound came again, a little louder. I turned suddenly and pointed in the direction I had heard it from. "Over there." I made my way across the room to a small raised platform where a dark lump now rested. Strange, I was certain that there hadn't been anything there before…I nudged the dark lump lightly with my foot and it made a strange sound like a light puff in a horn.

Ganondorf leaned over me as he looked at it. "An accordion? How did that survive this long?" He picked up the thing and pulled the two sides apart causing it to make a strained creak like leather that was about to tear. "I didn't think that something this fragile would have lasted." He pushed the two ends together and it made a loud shrieking blast of sound. The racket reverberated off the walls and seemed to fill the whole town with noise. The silence after that cacophony was deafening.

"Please don't do that again." I whispered, the sound still ringing in my ears. He nodded silently and placed the instrument on the ground where we had found it. At first nothing happened, but then I heard a soft tap on the wall outside. My breath caught in my throat as I heard another tap and then another. Silence followed and then I heard a muffled groan and I promptly moved behind the god, shuffling a small cloud of dust in my wake. My eyes were on the doorway as a couple of wood bits flipped past the opening as though someone had kicked them. The groan grew louder then screeched into a wail. My blood chilled and my heart pounded jarringly in my ears as other groans answered it.

I heard the sound of sliding metal and I looked up to the god to see that he had unsheathed his sword. I didn't know much about swords, but even I could tell that from the size of the blade that it was meant to be held with two hands. I guess I should not be so surprised that he would chose to wield it with only one. He moved wordlessly to the door and peered out. "Redeads!" He cursed as he backed away a few steps, blocking my view of the outside. "Stay behind me. I'll take care of these parasites."

I heard a loud moan from the doorway abruptly followed by the sickening sound of steel slicing bloated flesh. With a thud and what I could only describe as a splat, the body of what looked like a person fell at his feet. Nailed to its face was a blood-soaked wooden death mask. I gasped in horror and the pulsing of my heart echoed in my head, growing louder and louder until I could imagine that it was the drum from the stories, beating ever louder until it consumed me.

More and more redeads made their way to the door, desperately scrambling over the bodies of their fallen to grasp at Ganondorf's arms and legs before they too were cut down. I was so captivated by my fear, that I didn't hear the sound of rasping stone behind me.

Long boney arms rapped around me and I screamed as I felt the creature climb up onto my back, pinning my arms to my side. I tried to struggle, but only managed to fall backwards and pin the monster against the wall. I started to call out to Ganondorf, but I was cut short as one of the things from the doorway screamed. My body froze and I could barely breathe, much less call for help. Only the faintest of whimpers escaped me as teeth began to dig into my shoulder.

As the effects of the scream wore off, my knees buckled, sending me and my assailant sprawling onto the floor. The fall was enough to weaken the grasp of the thing and I slipped out of its reach. Blood trickled down my shirt and I felt something inside me constrict. In the rapidly dimming light I spied a wooden pole lying along the wall beside me and I grabbed it. As my fingers locked around the pole a warmth grew behind my eyes and I felt my muscles relaxing. The redead stood up like a marionette, its head slack against its shoulder. Before I knew what I was doing, the end of the pole had been rammed through the monster's chest. I jerked the pole loose, blinking in surprise as the redead fell to the ground with a twitch.

My confusion was interrupted by clapping, and I turned to see Ganondorf's silhouette framed by the lantern. "Good job, I hadn't heard that one get past me." He walked over and examined the damage and whistled." I didn't think you were the type to have been trained in staves." He turned back towards me just as I slid down the wall clutching my injured shoulder. He let loose a sling of curses as soon as he caught sight of the dark stain spreading across my pale blouse. The dim light in the room was just enough for me to be able to focus on his face as I clung to consciousness. The warm feeling in my head returned momentarily and I heard my hoarse voice wrap around words that were foreign to me. For the second time in my life, I fainted. And once again, the last thing I saw was his shocked face looking down at me.


	6. Chapter 6

Now presenting...Chapter 6! 'Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder'

...

Better late than never, right?

Oh...and for anyone that hasn't figured it out, I don't own Legend of Zelda...just the triforce. :P

...

And now, back to your regularly scheduled program.

A scorching wind blew across my face and I opened my eyes to the blinding light of the noon-day sun. I squinted as sand blew past me, carried by a puff of hot air. An endless desert met my watering eyes. Listening to the groan of the wind as it swept across the sand dunes, I found that it much resembled a mournful song…

The sharp pain in my shoulder snapped me out of my dream and I woke to find that I was not in fact in a desert, but rather that I was laying on a warm gravely surface. I attempted to raise my arm to inspect my wounded shoulder, but was hindered by a thick cloth. Gently, I lifted my head from what felt like a make-shift pillow and took in my surroundings.

The red gravel contrasted sharply with the blue of the sky in the distance, but the difference dulled significantly the closer it got to the stone ledge that I rested upon. Wispy gray and brown clouds swirled around the peak of what I now believed to be Death Mountain. Ah, yet another place on my long list of locations I never wanted to visit.

My quick glances had also told me one other thing, Ganondorf wasn't here. "_?" I tried to call out his name but found my voice muted. The curse must still be affecting him. I shifted the cloth and tried to sit up, gasping painfully as the bite on my neck stretched.

As if from the very air, a hand went to my back and supported me. "You shouldn't be moving yet." The god's voice was deep and soothing, like when my father used to sing me to sleep when I was young. Without meaning too, I relaxed into his hold. "We are lucky I had the foresight to bring heavy bandages with us. That is a nasty wound you have there." He gently checked the bandages to make sure that they hadn't shifted when I moved. "Do you remember what happened before you passed out?" He asked casually.

My body stiffened slightly as I considered his question. My mind felt like it was swimming and it was hard to remember clearly what had happened after the...redead attacked me. "I…don't know really…" I started slowly. "That thing attacked me and then…I killed it..?" That sounded right, but it didn't make sense. That hadn't been me had it? "I killed it right?" I craned my head up gently, attempting to see his expression, but the rising sun behind him shrouded his face in shadows.

"Yes you did, I was rather curious about when you had been trained in staves." The hand that was supporting me lowered just enough that I could make out his face. A flicker of gold flashed across his eyes. "Your father didn't seem the type to want his daughter to be trained in combat." His voice was neutral enough, but I was certain I had heard disdain in his words.

"I wasn't trained in staves. The only thing close to a weapon that I have ever held is a kitchen knife." I chuckled weakly. "I just…I just did what felt right." "Maybe I paid more attention to the performers at the carnival than I thought." I smiled; the performances given by the fighters at those carnivals had always captivated me.

"I see. Do you remember anything else?" He asked, watching me intently. I frowned in confusion. There had been something else, I was sure of it. Like phantoms in a dream though, the memory was just out of my reach.

"…No, I don't remember anything else." I averted my eyes from his piercing gaze, choosing to instead take a keen interest in the rock formations along the edges of the mountain. A muffled a hiss of pain escaped me as I felt myself being lowered back down. "Why? Did something happen?" I asked once I was resting comfortably upon the ground and the sharp pains had eased.

He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off as we heard a loud crash from the town below. I made to stand, but he lightly pressed on my un-injured shoulder. "Don't move. I'll go look." With that said, he climbed onto one of the larger rock formations to view the town below. As soon as he reached the edge and looked down, he stiffened. He leapt down like a mountain cat, his eyes alight with excitement. "You _will_ stay here until I get back." He grabbed his sword from where he had left our packs, stopping to look at me one more time before racing down the path. "Stay down and keep quiet. I will be back within the hour." Despite my curiosity, in my exhausted state, I was all too eager to oblige.

It was not long after he left that I drifted into an uneasy sleep; one filled with half-remembered awakenings and nightmares. I jolted awake after a particularly horrifying phantasm. I had been engulfed in darkness, kept company only by the rhythmic pounding of a booming drum and the deathly chill that had settled into my bones. I shuddered in an attempt to shake off the clammy sensation that it had left me with. While I was not one to normally have nightmares, my surroundings as of late seemed to breed them.

Opening my eyes had proven somewhat difficult as they had found some way to fuse themselves shut. Slowly I pushed myself up from the ground, my shoulder ablaze as I searched for my canteen. It lay only four feet from me, but those four feet might as well have been a mile as I crawled too it. A few drops of water splashed on my eyes eased the dryness they had been suffering from, and a few short gulps helped me to feel human again. Gently, I slid the canteen into my belt pouch where it had been before my little injury.

The sun was descending steadily over the rest of Hyrule. My guess was that it was now close, if not after, five. Between light coughs and painful twitches in my neck, I realized that Ganondorf had been gone for well over two hours. Fear crept over me, smothering whatever sense I had left. He should have been back a while ago. A glance around the small campsite told me all I needed to know. Shakily, I rose to my feet. Clinging to the rocks along the path with my good arm, I stumbled down the winding path back to Kakariko.

I didn't know what it was that I planned to do in the ghost town, but in my delirious state, I found no problem with this. I doubled over, clutching desperately to my walking stick as a wracking cough brought me to my knees. My throat felt bruised and each successive cough set my already aching shoulder on fire. My knuckles white from strain, I groped for my canteen. My fingertips twisted the cap off and I took a slow measured drink. I had no intention of coughing up this valuable water a good mile from the nearest clean stream.

The first thing I had sought out was what had caused the crash that had Ganondorf so excited. That had been answered before I stepped foot into Kakariko. The old windmill had collapsed, falling down onto the well. Investigating the remains had proven difficult at best. Just moving was hard enough without having to maneuver around debris.

As I neared the base of what had once been the windmill, I froze. The very ground was shaking. Gently, I knelt down over the exposed blocks of the foundation; my ear pressed against the cold stone. The ground resonated again, this time I had a hunch as to why. I had distinctly heard a drum, deep underground. Could the stories of the drum monster be true? Was Ganondorf fighting it now? A panic began to overtake me. What if he had already fought it? What if he had died? In my rapidly growing hysteria failed to notice the fact that a god could not die.

Adrenalin pumped through my veins as I frantically sought a way down, easing my awareness of the screaming of my opening wound. As I scrambled across broken beams, my foot slipped into a hole. I pulled my self free and looked at it. The hole looked rather deep, but there seemed to be light at the bottom. Perhaps this was where he had gone? Only the sound of another ominous drum beat answered me as I slid down into the darkness.

The soft soles of my boots slipped constantly on the moist stones that littered that cavern that I had climbed down. The light had ended up being one of our lanterns. Not wanting to go farther without some visibility, I chose to take it with me. The roughness of the cave eventually smoothed out into a well carved corridor. While my light could not illuminate it, I could tell that there was a canal to the left of the walkway once the corridor opened up into a cavernous room The distant sound of rushing water had been accompanying the drumbeats for some time, but it was more prevalent here.

The ceiling and two of the walls were too far away to be touched by my meager light. The sound of the drum was much louder here. Its deep booms taking on an almost bestial ferocity as its pace grew ever faster.

My feet began to move as though of their own accord; drawing me closer to what appeared to be a twisted metal gate. Caught on one of the broken bars was a piece of cloth. Recognizing it as part of Ganondorf's pack, I made my way into the room with a greater sense of urgency. I took a few steps into the vast room only for the frenzied drum beats to stop. My breath caught in my throat as my boot came down, splashing slightly in a shallow puddle. The prevailing silence that followed terrified me to my core.

"Get down!" His voice cut through the silence like a knife, breaking me out of my trance. Suddenly I had the feeling that something was coming at me. Fast. I made to run, but my shoulder took that moment to seize up painfully and I instead collapsed onto the floor. I fell into some of the strange water I had stepped in; it burned. A large shadowy thing swooped over me, and I rolled out of the liquid. Using my good hand, I wiped most of it off and the burning eased. Flashes of my dream came to mind as I ducked underneath the shadow again.

Scrambling off of the ground, I tried to run to Ganondorf's side. The splish splash of my feet striking the moist pathway changed abruptly to a loud booming as my wet feet slipped on the skin of the massive drum. As I tried to steady myself on the moving surface, I felt more than saw the massive shadow as it swept towards me. A giant shadowy hand came crashing down beside me, causing the drum to vibrate violently. The drum skin threw me up into the air and I hung suspended for a moment before another hand reached out and snatched me up. Terrified, I tried to scream, but only made a strangled yelp as the hand tightened painfully. The grip loosened, allowing me a few gasping breaths as whatever monster that held me examined its catch. Spots floated across my vision as I tried to look around. The gentle glow of my fallen lantern did little to illuminate the cavern that I was in, yet I could see. Blood rushed to my head as the grip loosened some more. Slowly, I blinked and the giant orange eye of the ghost blinked back.

Where music normally filled my head, there was only a faint buzzing. I felt my thoughts begin to slip away as the glowing eye stared into my own. A feeling began to come over me, one that had no words, just need. I needed to worship this creature, to sacrifice myself to it. Other similar thoughts began to occupy my empty mind, but they were interrupted by a loud yell. My hands, freed by the loosening of its grip, clapped over my ears, but it did nothing to filter the cry that continued to echo in my mind.

The monster's hand spasmed and I slipped through its fingers back onto the surface of the drum. The strange desire to commit suicide passed and, terrified, I crawled away from the thrashing ghost. It wasn't until I reached the edge of the drum that I looked back. The ghost had one hand clasped tightly over its eye as the other flailed madly, desperate to find its assailant. While the ghost could not see him, I could. A golden glow had begun to encompass his hand, illuminating his natural features. No longer was it the powerful, but simple man with whom I had been traveling, before me now stood the golden eyed god. In one hand, he held the shining light, in the other, a massive broadsword that dripped a dark, thick blood from its tip. My moment of revere was short lived as another scream ripped through my mind. My eyes jerked back to the thrashing ghost. It had lowered its hand and I could see that there was a large gash that split the 'skin' around its eye in half. The orange eye blazed with a fury, but had not remained unscathed. A clean slice on It's side oozed thick mucus. As if sensing my eyes on it, it turned to me and my mind reeled.

Ganondorf began to approach the weakened phantom, his blade raised up in a defensive stance. His eyes were on the monster, so he didn't see me slip behind him. A swift kick to the back of the legs brought him down to my level, he turned to me in shock and I struck at his neck. He caught my wrist and twisted me around until I was trapped in his arms. "Using her to fight your battles for you Bongobongo? How pathetic!" Ganondorf's voice was snide as he mocked the creature, but his words meant little to me. My mind resonated with only one thing.

/kill him/ the voice in my mind commanded.

I relaxed my muscles abruptly, my body going slack in his arms as though I had lost consciousness. When the grip holding me loosened as he prepared to put me down, I made my move. Pushing of the ground forcefully, I knocked him back just enough to slide out of his arms. In a distant part of my mind, I noticed that my neck hurt, but I paid it no heed. Spinning around I grabbed his arm and shirt, slipping my leg behind his own, I pulled his leg forward as I pushed his upper body back. A satisfying boom accompanied his fall to the drum's surface. Straddling his chest, I pressed my arm down on his throat.

As I shifted my weight, to better pin his arms I noticed something. I felt too light. Why was my body so light? The moment of confusion was enough to break me from my trance and I leapt off his chest, my face flushed. "I-I'm sorry my King! I was not myself!" I stammered as I backed away from him, horrified at what I had done. Coughing, he looked at me oddly, as though he did not trust that I was free of the fiend's influence. The look was deserved, but it still hurt. Feeling the weight of my cello as it materialized in my hands, I called out to him. "I will bind the creature while you finish it off. Keep him from me! So long as I play he will be bound to this tangible form!"

Without waiting for his command, I lay the bow deep into the string. A song of the light, one inspired by the very essence of the goddess' gift echoed from the vast cavern. It was an old song, predating even my memory, but its power was still strong. With each note played, every phantom within earshot writhed in agony. For creatures such as these, it was a song of what they had left behind. It embodied everything that they had turned their backs on in life. Such a reminder seared them to their core.

The faintest sound like that of the stifled cry of a child slipped through my mind as the creature was slain; Ganondorf's blade lodged deep within its form. I continued playing, slower now. The last note I held until the flickering light in its once blazing eye died. Dismissing my instrument, I walked over to my companion. He jerked his blade from the remains that were gradually fading back into the shadows. Flicking open a pouch on his belt, he withdrew a cleaning cloth. As he wiped the blade off, he turned to me. He took a hard look at my bleeding neck before asking, "Are you going to be alright Ellen?"

My body froze as I stared at him. "Ellen? But I'm not…" A flood of muddled memories mixed with confusion overtook me and I staggered forward. "My name…my name isn't…" The surface of the drum shook unexpectedly and I felt myself begin to fall. He caught me before I landed and as I lay in his arms I smiled. It had been so long since he last held me. I only was able to enjoy it for a moment before I blacked out.


	7. Chapter 7

"He favors you, you know."

I turned my head to my companion and chuckled. "Does he now?" She scowled at my lighthearted reply. My grin only widened. "Maybe he just likes my company; did you ever think of that? He doesn't have to favor me to like me as a companion."

She scoffed loudly, "He doesn't 'just' enjoy your company; he seeks it out!" I watched her as she spoke, with every emphasized word, she moved her hands dramatically. She never noticed it, but she had a tendency to talk with her hands when excited. "Besides, I checked the patrol schedule. Did you know that he has chosen to be paired with you more than any other girl? Furthermore, most of those patrols are the long ones!" Her horse shifted uncomfortably as she finished her sentence with a flourish.

She fell silent, waiting for my reply. I chose to pretend to be distracted by the seemingly endless desert scenery. "Hmm? Sorry, what were you saying?" I got a swift punch to the shoulder for that one. Not strong enough to blossom into a bruise, but it still hurt. I rubbed it gently. "So violent, no wonder the men don't like you." This time I ducked.

.

.

I woke slowly, my dream still filling my mind. The woman I had been in my dream was strong and confident. It was such a liberating feeling that I was loath to leave it behind. My stomach however had other plans. A loud growl drew me out of my slumber and back to reality. As I grew more aware of my surroundings, my shoulder decided to remind me that it existed and that I had apparently over-taxed it. I grunted slightly as I sat up and looked around.

I was no longer trapped in a dark moist cavern. Dead trees rather than stone, surrounded me. They must have been an impressive sight when they were alive, but now their once thick canopies did little to shade the forest floor from the glare of the morning sun.

A branch crackled and snapped behind me, and I turn as fast as my wound would allow. It was not a very impressive speed. I had barely begun to stand up when I felt a warm hand on my uninjured shoulder gently press me back down. Sitting down again, I glanced at the sack that Ganondorf was carrying. "Um…what is that?" I rasped out; my throat so dry that it was sticking to itself. Before answering, he handed me my canteen. I drank deeply as apparently he had refilled it somewhere.

"This is our breakfast." He said, setting the bag down. My lip curled slightly at the smell as he opened it. When he pulled the contents of the bag out, I frowned.

"What is that?" I asked, completely confused. It didn't look like food, much less something edible. He held out a piece for me and I reluctantly bit into it. It tasted better than it smelled, but I still had no idea what it was.

"Like I said, it is breakfast." He handed me another bite. "My people were excellent scavengers, able to find food almost anywhere. But you would know that, wouldn't you?" I met his piercing gaze for a moment, but then dropped my head.

"I...I don't know what you mean." I mumbled, looking away. His intense examination was making me nervous.

He scowled. "Do you remember? When you attacked me in Bongo Bongo's lair, you were using the techniques of a Gerudo." Even with my head down, I could still feel the heat of his gaze. I listened to his words in confusion, but said nothing. He was in a dangerous mood and I didn't want to provoke him. "And when you came to your senses, you called me your king." He stood up and started pacing. "Not once did I ever tell you that I was a king." I watched him as he walked away, his muscles were tense. When he reached the end of our campsite, he turned back and my eyes shot down again. "And when the fiend was slain, you claimed that Ellen was not your name. Who are you?"

I looked up at him, shock evident on my face. I feared speaking out of turn, but what he was saying completely baffled me. "What are you talking about? I never attacked you! After you sliced that…thing's eye, I fainted. I don't remember anything else!" I looked at his expression and my face paled. "I…I don't remember." I stuttered. My argument sounded weak, even to me and I withered under his gaze.

He had a wild look in his eyes and it made me worry that he was going to strike me. Instead, he sighed heavily and sat down, dust swirled around his feet. "Perhaps in a previous life, you were a Gerudo. Even though you would not know me as your king, it would still explain the rest." His conclusion was odd at best, but though it didn't seem to satisfy him completely, at least he wasn't violent anymore. He shifted his feet a little and watched the dust settle. We finished our small meal in silence.

After he swallowed the last of his food, he leaned back against the trunk of a thick willow. "Would you play that cello? If you could revive the trees, it would make our time here more pleasant." He said, startling me and effectively shattering the almost tangible silence that had fallen over us.

"I…alright." I answered nervously. Despite my agreement, I had no idea how I was supposed to summon the instrument. The scowl on his face as he turned his gaze once again to the dust on the ground told me enough. It would probably make matters worse if I asked him for help. Instead, I tried to remember what I had been feeling the last time I had held the instrument. There had been a song…a song that had come from the very earth. Looking around the dead wood, I tried to think what song they would play. A fast one…a lively one perhaps.

A sense of vertigo crept over my senses as a couple of notes drifted just beyond hearing. More notes began to rise up around me and I smiled. It was such a lively tune that it almost made me want to dance. As the song kept playing in my mind, I felt the weight of the cello settle in my hands and my grin widened. The song wrapped lovingly through the trees around us, each note seeming to dance on the leaves that had begun growing. It was a merry tune, like that of a child's laughter. I could almost hear a whistle or pipe accompanying me.

I wasn't sure when I had started playing, but as the song ended, I found that I could still hear the music. I scowled in confusion and turned to Ganondorf to see if he could hear it too. He slowly stood and unsheathed his sword. Most likely not a good sign.

A high-pitched giggle echoed around us, "I see that someone has decided to fix the forest!" "My how pretty it looks!" A second voice answered. "Why yes sister, how very nice of our young friend." Another voice responded. A chill swept up my spine and I shrieked as an icy cold hand settled on my back. "Hehehe! My, what a fun little Sage!" The third voice from behind me cackled as I dropped the cello; my muscles spasming painfully as I quickly stumbled my way over to the God. He raised his sword into a defensive stance and wrapped his cloak around me. "Stay close to me." He whispered.

Yet another voice chimed in. "Oh my, it seems we have overlooked her companion. Such an unpleasant fellow, don't you agree sisters?" A chorus of giggles answered her and I clung tighter to the God's side. "Aw, we seem to be scaring the little Sage." The first voice cooed. "You are right Amy, let's make her feel more welcome!" The fourth voice chimed in. "Joelle, Beth? Would you two be dears and get rid of this unpleasant young man?" "Gladly Meg!" The two voices agreed.

"Wretched poes, you really think you are a match for me?" Ganondorf scoffed. "I'll send you back to your graves!" With a sneer, he spun around to strike at one of our attackers who had slipped up behind us. She was now wildly swinging her blue lantern in an attempt to ward off his sword. "Eek! Joelle, help me!" She shrieked as Ganondorf's blade sliced off part of her lantern.

A red lantern flew up, almost grazing the God's head. "Get away from my sister!" Joelle demanded, still spinning her lantern angrily. He barked out a laugh and thrust his blade towards Joelle instead. "Yes, come specters, come and let me free you from your wretched existence!"

Ducking my head under his cloak, my eyes caught a brilliant golden glow coming from his belt where he kept the Triforce pieces. I opened my mouth to tell him, but instead let out a cry of agony as a sharp note rend the air and fractured my mind. The slash on my neck was all but forgotten as I frantically looked for my cello amidst the lanterns and ghosts.

There.

A large Poe garbed in a faded violet shroud awkwardly clutched the neck of the instrument. Reaching down, she again roughly plucked another string. The twisted note ripped painfully through me and I collapsed onto the ground holding my head until the sound faded. Jerking my head up, I screamed, "Don't touch that!" I lunged at the Poe in a fury.

"Now sisters!" She called gleefully and a bright violet light tinged with gold blinded me. I stumbled forward on the uneven ground; feeling a cold hand grab my ankle. Thrusting my hands down, I attempted to catch myself from falling, yet when I inevitably did, it was not dirt that I fell on.

As my eyes adapted to the sudden darkness, shapes began to form in the pitch that surrounded me. Stone walls that showed the signs of long lost grandeur stood on all four sides. Grungy tapestries had been corroded by the hundreds of vines that wove their way into every gap and crack. It was as though the very forest was attempting to strangle every last trace. My hand traced a vague image on the rug that I knelt upon. It was so grimy that it might as well have been made from the very dust that coated everything in the room. There was little light. Of the four lamps surrounding me, only one was lit; a pale flame that flickered across the surface of the walls. It barely illuminated even one corner of the room.

Light blossomed around me again, and I covered my eyes; wincing. The glow faded some, but didn't disappear. I lowered my arm to find the four Poes that had spirited me away. Each one cast a gentle light down onto one of the lamps. The three over the unlit lamps seemed faded; their shrouds more tattered in comparison to the larger violet Poe.

"It is so good of you to come on such short notice, dear sage." The violet Poe beamed. "My sisters and I have been waiting for someone like you ever since…" She stopped abruptly and as if on command, the small yellow Poe chirped up. "Don't worry Meg, dear! We are with you and will stay now that we have a sage!"

Meg relaxed. "Yes Amy, it is silly of me to linger on something that is going to finally be fixed." She answered, placated.

Turning her dead gaze back to me, she smiled. "Well Sage? Get your lovely little instrument out and fix everything!" She giggled merrily. "Oh wait; it seems I have forgotten that I have your instrument! How dreadfully silly of me!" She reached out and lifted my cello from behind the lamp and I saw tainted golden fog wrap around the neck of the instrument where she held it.

My insides squirmed in disgust and rage. "Give that back!" I shouted; my anger deepened my voice to where it reverberated off the walls. I wasn't sure why the Poe…Meg, holding my cello angered me so much, but at the moment, I didn't care. All I cared about was that the mere fact that she held it was the gravest of insults. The three faded Poes glanced amongst themselves in confusion as Meg chuckled, though with less mirth than before.

"Yes, yes. In good time deary, but first…You must promise us your aid." She gestured to her sisters, "We have waited so very long after all." She grinned beneath her shroud and lifted the instrument, holding it just out of my reach. "You want it?"

"I owe you nothing, return what is MINE." I emphasized the last word in irritation. They had no right! It was mine and had been mine for as long as I could remember, how dare they….I blinked in confusion. 'As long as I could remember…?' But I had only had it for a few days…

My thoughts were interrupted as she lifted the instrument suddenly. "If you do not agree, then I'll smash it!" Her head shook, though in anger or desperation, I could not tell. All that I could tell was that there was a scream of fear and rage filling the room and despite the fact that it was in my voice; it wasn't me who was screaming.

Just a quick apology to anyone following this story.I've been so caught up in everyday life, that I just haven't been dedicating the time needed to write this. By no means have I abandoned this story though.

On a lighter note, I found my missing notes! I had some details for future chapters written out, but it went missing over the summer. ^^; Now that I have them, I should be able to write a bit faster.

I also have the next chapter written out. I just have to edit everything and then I can post it. :)


	8. Chapter 8

A thousand screams rang in my mind as my body lunged forward of its own will. Meg shrieked with surprise, loosening her grip just enough for my hands to wrench the instrument free of her grasp as I passed her. Spinning on the ball of my foot, I turned to face them. I felt a smirk spread across my face. My grip on the neck tightened for a moment before my other hand reached out and gently plucked a single open string. A note so pure that it made my throat clench filled the room. To my surprise, the clenching of my throat didn't cease, the pain intensified as the very flesh knitted itself together again. A small amount of blood dripped down my throat onto my shirt, but whoever was controlling my body didn't seem to care.

With a wave of my hand, she dismissed the instrument and in its place held only the bow. "You dare to tell a sage what to do? You dare to presume that you had any right?" My voice spat the words as though they were tainted with poison. She tightened my grip on the frog of the bow and heat radiated from my hand, enveloping the bow. "As the eldest of the sages, it is both my honor and delight to educate you." The weight of the bow shifted, but couldn't catch even a glimpse of what had been done. I could only watch the Poes in an attempt to understand what was happening.

Without taking her eyes off my hand, Beth drifted in front of Meg and Amy, swinging her lantern protectively. Joelle was nowhere to be seen. "Now, now dear sage. No need to be violent." Meg's voice sounded worried now. "Ellen, your name is Ellen right? Come now, put the weapon down."

I barked out a laugh, "Ellen? Such a name, I have never been known by in all of my lifetimes." Raising her weapon, that I could now see was a curved sword, she continued. "If it will ease your passing however, then I will grace you with one of my names." In the blink of an eye, I found myself face to face with Beth. "I am Asima."

With a flick of the wrist, she thrust the blade into Beth's lantern.

The blade slid through the opening of the lantern and past it, into the blue cowl that covered her. Meg shrieked. The violet flame atop the lamp beside me blazed ferociously; matching the intensity of Meg's rage. An eerie glow writhed across the walls as she swung her lantern in a fury. "Don't you touch her!" her panicked voice rose to such a pitch that could shatter glass. I swiftly withdrew my blade to cover my ears as I danced away from her assault. "I won't let you hurt them! I won't let you!" Her screams punctuated each hysterical swipe of her scorching lantern. "I will not lose them again!"

I leaned back again as her lantern swept past my face harmlessly, my skin only feeling a warm gust as it rushed by. My heart skipped a beat however, when the flame of her lantern flickered in a familiar gold as it swept past me. I moved back from her, a wave of confusion washing over me. Wasn't that…?

My thoughts were cut off as something heavy and blunt struck me from behind. I dropped to the floor, my head throbbing. Instead of striking again, Joelle drifted past me to join her sisters. I cursed. How careless of me to forget about her. Meg swept over to Beth, who lay unmoving on the stone floor. Reaching into her lantern, she pulled a handful of the now blazing gold flame and gently placed it inside Beth's lantern. To my surprise, the gapping hole on Beth's shroud slowly wove together; a spark of blue spreading through the flames in her lantern overcame the gold as she lifted herself back up from the floor.

My eyes widened. It was undeniable now that Meg held one of the Triforce shards. As this realization dawned on me, a part of me recoiled in shock. Frantic; my head shot down to look at my right hand. I didn't know what it was that I was looking for, but whatever it was that I saw chilled me to my core. The arrogance that I had shown was stripped away; leaving only a cold feeling in the pit of my stomach. I was certain that my skin was now a lovely shade of white.

Beth, seemingly fully healed, rose up off the ground and bobbed happily. "Thank you, sister dear!" She chirped, bobbing up and down happily. Meg looked at her for a while before nodding slowly. Turning on me again, her whole body shook. "You! You would to take them from me? For all your power, you would not help?" The golden glow of her lantern intensified, even as a darker taint twisted around it, encompassing it. "I don't need your power! What good is your power to me if you will not help?"

My grip on the blade tightened as she approached me, her head low. "If you will not help me willingly, then I will take what I need!" Spinning in a wide circle around me, she split into four identical ghosts. "Your life should suffice to return theirs, don't you agree?" her taunting voice surrounded me as she continued to circle, gradually drawing closer.

I watched the four copies in confusion at first, half-heartedly swiping at those that got closest. I swung at the second to last one, the image dissipating into dust like the previous two. All that I got for my effort was a good sneeze that had me duck in time to evade Meg's attack…mostly. Her lantern grazed the back of my head, singeing a few hairs. I turned around, ready to retaliate, but she had vanished.

Her giggles echoed off the walls as I desperately tried to find her. Again, the four spirits appeared, but there was something different this time. Perhaps it had been there before as well, and I had simply not noticed. I warily watched the other three, worried that whoever was possessing me had not seen it. To my immense relief, once they were only a few feet away, my body turned sharply; the blade slicing a wide arc in the air. 'This one' a voice whispered in my mind as my blade bit deeply into both her and her lantern. I had felt drawn to her, or rather, felt drawn to what was hidden inside her lantern.

Her cries of agony pierced my ears as her soul departed. A cry that was not alone; echoed not only by the three remaining copies, but also her sisters. As the sound faded, so too did the remaining Poes. The blade in my hand cooled, reverting to its former shape, before vanishing entirely. My footsteps were soft, almost tentative as I approached the crushed remains of the lantern. Dust swirled around my feet as I reached down and picked up the sliver of gold from where it had fallen.

As my fingers closed around its cold form, I stumbled forward.

Racking sobs filled my ears as Meg slumped against an unlit lamp. She clutched the broken lanterns of her sisters. She wailed again, her loneliness hung in the air like a thick fog. The more she lamented, the more her lantern glowed. To my surprise, I reached out to her, placing my hand on her hooded head. As my skin touched the fabric, a cold clammy feel brushed across my skin and down my spine. Her desperation was palpable now, but there was more to it. I could almost feel her thoughts, disjointed as they were.

The thoughts were incoherent at best, but what they meant was simple enough. Her sisters had left, choosing to pass on into the afterlife. She had meant to follow, but was somehow unable to. I looked to the lantern cradled in her skeletal arms, knowing that it was what anchored her to this world. Her loneliness was suffocating her. Even I could tell that she had long since reached the point where a true death would be a comfort. In desperation, she called on the power that kept her and her sisters separate. Twining it with her own magic; she created copies of her sisters to sate her need for companions. Every action, every word, it was all orchestrated from her memory.

As she looked at the images of her sisters, I felt a madness begin to grow in her mind. She began to forget that they were copies at all. All that she knew was that something was wrong. Her sisters acted perfectly, sounded and spoke just like they always had, but they were broken somehow. The thoughts and feelings I was absorbing began to take a dark turn; one that became more warped with each passing second. The taint of madness was so strong that it made me feel ill.

The fear and loneliness hit me full force and I was shocked out of the visions. I looked down at the golden sliver in my hand in horror. "Oh god…" I had known that Ganondorf was cursed to be forgotten, but I hadn't realized just how painful it was to be left behind. It was amazing that he hadn't broken like Meg. To be left behind, abandoned and forgotten…it was too much.

All I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry, but instead, my body stood up, hands clenched in fists and shaking. After experiencing Meg's nightmare, I had forgotten all about whomever it was that was controlling me. "What has happened?" My voice whispered.

A flash of pain and blood caused me to crumple, gasping in pain. The ghost of splintering wood rang in my ears, more painful than the gash that robbed me of my life. Soft footsteps approached, but I could not hear them past the grief that wrapped around my throat, strangling me. Heartache that threatened to break me; agony and blood. I coughed in pain, fully expecting to see my blood fleck the floor.

A hand grabbed my shoulder, "Are you alright?" Ganondorf asked. I looked up at him, and the vision's grip released me. For a moment I saw the god rather than the featureless form he had been cursed with. It was odd how familiar he looked; familiar, but different. The presence that had been controlling me faded, leaving me alone again in my body. "Yes, I think I'm alright." I whispered. I looked down at the golden piece in my hand. As I held it, it seemed to glow just a little.

(Ganondorf pov)

I ran like a man possessed. Those wretched cackles haunting me long after the ghosts had departed. They were nothing more than worthless sub-creatures, a kind that I had held sway over in my younger years. I growled in anger as I raced towards the temple. It was all thanks to this curse…thanks to her. I wouldn't be fooled like that again, but if I didn't find the sage, none of it would matter.

I climbed the tree at the entrance of the temple, swinging myself up onto the ledge with ease. When first met with the decay of the forest temple, I was surprised. I had imagined that her song would have revived it to its splendor like the rest of the forest, yet the only thing impressive about it was the sheer amount of plants eating away at the walls and ceiling. Perhaps her song reset it to a certain time? I only had a few moments to muse over these things before I crept into the main room, fully expecting a battle.

The center of the room was lit in patches by the sunlight streaming down through cracks in the ceiling. It was there that I found my charge, of the Poes, there was no sign. I should have expected this. Here I am, late to the rescue, and her holding the prize. Her fingers were clenched, but I could still see the gleam of the golden shard. She was sitting still on the floor and breathing heavily. I approached cautiously, something was wrong.

When I was a few feet away, her body shook and she leaned forward with a cry of anguish and pain. I remembered that sound well; it was the same one my sisters made when a newborn did not survive. What could this girl have experienced that could possibly compare? I reached for her shoulder, just as she lurched forward and coughed violently. I grabbed her shoulder and squeezed slightly, "Are you alright?" I asked. Worry that she had been possessed by the Poes crept around the edges of my mind. Tainted by ghosts, she would be almost useless to me as a sage. If my plan was to work then that would be very, very bad.

She turned to look at me; her face was so pale as to be almost white. "Yes, I think I'm alright." She managed to whisper after a moment, but her eyes were unfocused. She turned her gaze back to the gold shard in her hand and my eyes followed.

"Wisdom." I murmured. She didn't seem to hear me. I reached down and plucked the piece from her hand. A trace of foreign magic permeated it like the scent of smoke. I casually brushed it off and placed it into my bag with the others. Only three shards, yet with this addition, Wisdom and Power were almost complete. It was a good start, but I wasn't about to become cocky. That had only served to ruin me in the past. This time, when power called, I would be the one in control.

I was brought back to the present by a small sound. She whispered so quietly, that I barely made out what she said. "Asima."

At that, my ears perked up. "You know of Asima?" I asked, very curious. She looked at me again, some color had returned to her face and her eyes were more focused. "I…I know the name." She mumbled, obviously hiding something. There was more to this girl than she was willing to let on, it was trying my patience. I was not a patient man.

Taking a deep breath to quell my frustration, I began. "Asima is from before my time. She was a great warrior among my people." I sat down on a relatively clean spot on the carpet. "She was a guardian of sorts, wise and powerful." "The stories say that she died in a brave sacrifice for the safety of her people. What that sacrifice was, isn't fully explained, but it apparently involved the first Princess of Hyrule."

I shifted a little, letting my neck pop before continuing. "The better known stories claim that she and her sister Ma'isah where bearers of 'gifts of the goddess'." "In my land, we worship the goddess of the sand." I clarified. "There are few tales of their exploits, but with good reason. It has been well over a thousand years since they lived."

I chose not to tell her that the only reason we knew as much as we did was out of my own youthful curiosity. "Now then, how do you know that name?"

If I didn't know better, I'd say she fainted on purpose.

Arabic names:

Asima means 'protector'

Ma'isah means 'to walk with a proud swinging gait'

Just wanted to clarify for everyone, I picked these names for a reason. ^_^

Apparently, I didn't upload this chapter three weeks ago, like I thought I had...gotta love , am I right?

Well, on a good not, I have the next chapter already finished and am fleshing out the follow-up now. The next one is a touch short, but is packed with info. ^_^ If anyone is still reading this, I hope you enjoy~!


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